Ainsworth's story may serve the turn of an Opéra-bouffe Librettist, and the scamp himself be played by a sprightly actress without much harm being done to anybody. _Jack Sheppard_, for instance, ought not to be sanctioned by the Licenser any more than _Claude Duval_, _Dick Turpin_, or any other drama of a like kind, of which the recognized motive is the veiled incentive to crime. Still, a raid on Harrison Ainsworth, notwithstanding the acknowledged mischief that has been done to the young and ignorant by a perusal of his cracksman's romance, would scarcely be the same thing, and yet the cases are sufficiently parallel to admit at least of argument. We should be inclined to suppress such romances as _Jack Sheppard_, _Rookwood_, Bulwer's _Claude Duval_, and also _Eugene Aram_, which was so severely and so justly satirized by Thackeray in _Mr. Punch's_ pages. For the truth about Jack Sheppard our readers have only to refer to one of the earliest volumes of _Mr. Punch's_ series, where they will find his character as described by Ainsworth, and his true character as given in the Newgate Calendar, displayed side by side in parallel columns. _There was no sort of romance about the real Jack Sheppard._ Meantime, for want of a better remedy to meet the evil, let parents and guardians, and those who have charge and direction of the young idea, keep their eyes open and have a special regard to the direction in which it shows inclination to shoot. It is just as ready to derive its nutriment from the "penny healthful," as from the "penny dreadful," and as a mere matter of commercial enterprise, the former could be as easily forthcoming and available as the latter. Philanthropy is continually actively busying itself about the education of the young--here is something practical for it to do--let it look to the quality of its _Magazine literature_. It wants some energy and some capital, but both in these days ought to be forthcoming. To drive the penny dreadful out of the literary field is not a task beyond the powers of organization and enterprise. And it is in this direction that the first steps will be taken in the material and moral amelioration of "What boys read."